Facts To Help You Overcome Your Fear Of LASIK

My son’s first time on an airplane was tough. He was so scared, my wife and I nearly had to drag him out of the car in the airport parking lot. Of course, everything ended up just fine. He ended up having a blast, and now looks forward to his window seat when we travel by plane.

After all, glasses and/or contact lenses have been a part of their lives for many years. They pretty much know everything to expect – including most of the downsides. As the saying goes, better the devil you know than the one that you don’t.

This is a wide-spread reason why many people are on the fence about LASIK and continue to do what they have been doing, tolerating both the guaranteed ongoing cost and the downsides of glasses and contact lenses, while at same time hoping for a day where they can make a change and choose to live their life without those hindrances.

We would like to help with the unknowns. Over the years, serving tens of thousands of patients, we have seen quite a few who were very surprised to learn a thing or two about LASIK.

Since it was helpful for them, we decided to make a blog post out of our top ten. So here you go the top 10 facts to help you overcome your LASIK fears.

The first laser vision correction procedure was performed in the U.S. more than 30 years ago. LASIK is not a new procedure and is considered one of the safest and effective elective medical procedures in the world.

It is not realistic to think that you can go black blind from LASIK. It is possible to have a complication, however. So proper follow-up care from our LASIK specialists is important, but going black blind is not a reasonable concern.

There are no needles used in a LASIK procedure.

LASIK works by reshaping the patient’s cornea using an invisible laser, so the patient cannot see the light as it does the reshaping.

There are no surgical blades used in a modern LASIK procedure. Only lasers are used to perform our most advanced LASIK procedures that every patient receives at 20/20 Institute.

The patient cannot mess up their procedure by blinking. After the eye is numbed with eye drops, the patient’s eyelids are gently held open to prevent blinking. The numbing drops help with the urge to blink and the doctor maintains proper moisture in the eye.

The patient cannot mess up their procedure by moving their eyes. 20/20 Institute’s most advanced technology is provided for every patient and includes a sophisticated eye-tracking system that follows eye movement 500 times per second, adjusts as frequently, and pauses if the eye moves too much.

Most patients report that the worst part of the procedure is about 45 seconds of intense pressure on the eye. Since the eyes are numb, the patient cannot feel anything touching their eyeball, but they do feel the pressure. Some patients say the procedure overall was somewhat difficult and that the pressure hurt quite a bit, but most report that their experience was pretty easy and not too uncomfortable.

From start to finish, LASIK takes approximately five to six minutes per eye. Hands down the most common question from patients during their LASIK procedure is something like: “You’re done already?”

Initial recovery after LASIK is a 3-4 hour nap. The waking moments after that nap are commonly the most impressive for our patients. Getting back to normal after LASIK is quick and easy.

We hope this list is helpful to you or a loved one. We know that facts are typically no magic wand for any of us in facing our fears. When my son was scared of boarding that plane, it was helpful for him to learn some facts about the safety of air travel – even as compared to the alternatives – to help him understand more and feel more comfortable. Ultimately, though, the knowledge that his parents who love him and care for him would be with him was the most help with his fears that day.

To learn about your candidacy for LASIK and to receive transparent, easy-to-understand answers to your specific questions, either request us to contact you or give us a call 303.202.0669 to schedule your complimentary LASIK consultation at one of our convenient Denver locations.